Reclaiming Liminality as a Tool for Business Leaders

As our definition of “normal” continues to unravel, many of us are left in an ongoing state of transition, a space that seems to be becoming all too familiar. These liminal spaces, in which we are constantly waiting, are thresholds between what was and what’s next. Liminality, defined as a transition of time, place, or state of mind, has become an instrumental archetype in the collective psychology of the 21st century. Although, I would argue that the powerful potential of liminal spaces is overlooked and that business leaders in particular can ultimately make better use of these spaces.

Over the course of the pandemic both employees and employers watched as the workplace was disrupted. The new digital landscape became an obstacle to productivity, physical processes, communication, and community building, leaving much of company culture in a fragmented state. The months raced by, slowly merging together into a blur of a year, as we sat back waiting for the future of work to become the present. To pass the time, many of us fabricated distractions: learning to bake bread, taking up various forms of arts and crafts, or filling our homes with houseplants. Although these distractions may have seemed trivial at the time, perhaps they served a deeper purpose as channels to reflect and derive new forms of meaning.

In a broader sense, the pandemic provided the space for us to reflect on our purpose, both in life and at work. Faced with the fear of the unknown, of the virus, and even more so the future, all of the existential anxiety induced a collective state of reflection. While employees were waiting to return to normal, this opportunity to reflect created space to ask more fundamental questions around the purpose of work in general. Do we work for mere survival, for financial stability, personal achievement, the greater mission of the company we work for, or for a greater purpose altogether?

While many of us used this time to find new ways to connect with our work, others were faced with realizations that left them searching for something more. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July, 2021, a trend nicknamed the Great Resignation. Further, data collected by Microsoft suggests that 46% of workers are planning to go through with a significant career pivot. Perhaps, the long pause of the pandemic enabled these workers to think more deeply about their work and even transform their understanding of their own purpose.

That being said, the pandemic was certainly a powerful liminal space for employees, however in this case it may have not been in the best interest for many companies, especially within the realm of company culture. I would argue that this was a huge missed opportunity for business leaders to create the same effect of reflection and searching for meaning, but within the context of the company’s purpose. 

Liminal spaces, like the pandemic, can be reframed as reflective spaces for new community-building rituals, for prompts to evoke designed epiphanies, or even simply for cues to help connect employees to the company’s future. Along these lines, liminal spaces need to be reframed as opportunities instead of obstacles, and treated as proactive tools instead of simply a bench to wait on.